


An Electrifying Christmas

by Huntress79



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Darcy Lewis's Taser, F/M, Getting Together, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis Friendship, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22039594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: All she wanted was to stop the bad guy who grabbed Jane’s purse. She didn’t expect to fall in love with the guy she got instead.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis
Comments: 4
Kudos: 78
Collections: MCU Christmas Exchange





	An Electrifying Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ibelieveinturtles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/gifts).



> written for the MCU Christmas Exchange and for ibelieveinturtles. Set in a non-power AU, though some people stay the same. Appearances by/mentions of Jane Foster, Steve Rogers, and Phil Coulson. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!  
> PS: I might write a sequel to it (though no promises)

*********************

“Easy, pal.”

Steve’s deep, slightly worried timbre was the first thing Bucky registered through the fog that seemed to have taken up residence in his brain. What the heck had happened? Only one way to find out.

Which wasn’t exactly the best idea he apparently had, since Bucky experienced, probably for the first time ever in his life, vertigo. If he thought the rollercoasters over on Coney Island were bad, this was ten times worse.

“What happened, Steve?”

“What’s the last thing you remember, pal?”

And that was the crux – he just couldn’t remember anything. Dang it, did he get drugged or what?

“Oh, thank the Lord, you’re awake!”

A definitely female voice came from the doorway, and only now, Bucky realized that he was in the hospital. This mystery already got more layers than Mama Barnes’ legendary puff pastry, and still, Bucky couldn’t help but feel that there was more to come.

“Hi,” a petite brunette appeared in his peripherical vision, and the first thing he noticed about her was how incredibly small she appeared next to Steve, and even compared to Bucky himself, she almost seemed to vanish. “I’m Dr. Jane Foster. I know, you don’t know me, but if you want, I can explain why you’re in the hospital, and why you can’t remember anything at the moment.” She exchanged a look with Steve, who gave an encouraging nod. Though Bucky wasn’t quite sure if it was directed at him or her.

“Please begin,” he finally got out, his throat still parched like the desert despite the ice chips Steve gave him immediately after waking up.

“Do you remember being at the Christmas Market in the Central Park?”

“Not really,…” Bucky began, but he saw Steve nod, so he let it slide. Steve wouldn’t lie to him, not about something like that.

“Anyway, I was also there, with my best friend and assistant Darcy, when someone grabbed my purse and made a dash with it. Darcy, you must know, thinks she has to protect me at any given time. So she took after that guy, and that’s where you come in.”

Even though his mind still moved like molasses, Bucky had a hunch at what happened afterwards.

“Let me guess: she mistook me for the thief.”

Jane gave him not only a quite enthusiastic nod, but also a blinding smile.

“Yeah, and to make things worse, Darcy prefers to carry a taser on her, pretty much all the time.” Jane cringed before continuing. “And she tasered you really good. If your friend would not have grabbed her, I think she still would try to shock you.”

Huffing a breath, Jane grabbed a few of the ice chips from the small bowl on Bucky’s side table, causing both men to give her a raised eyebrow.

“What? Hydration is very important for the body, and the mind, and I haven’t had anything to drink for the past few hours.”

“We didn’t say anything, Doctor,” Bucky gave back, accompanied by a soft smile.

“Listen, Mr….,”

“…Barnes, Doctor Foster,” Bucky continued.

“Yeah, Mr. Barnes, I already told the police that I will accept to pay for any costs, if you refrain from pressing charges against Darcy. She really didn’t mean to harm you, and she told me before I came in here that she will also drop by once the police has finished talk to her. And she will apologize to you…”

Bucky raised a hand, effectively stopping Dr. Foster’s (admittedly quite adorable) mini-rant.

“It’s okay, Dr. Foster, but maybe you could give her a slightly lower charged taser for Christmas?”

“Thank you, Mr. Barnes, and believe me, I already tried to do so, but she’s managed to find ‘her’ taser again every single time.” Jane grabbed his hand, giving it a little shake. “Get well soon, and once again, I’m so incredibly sorry that you ended up here, thanks to my warrior assistant.”

With that, she turned on her heel and attempted to leave, only to be stopped by Bucky’s voice.

“Dr. Foster?”

She turned around, a quizzical expression on her face.

“Did they get the guy?”

“Sadly no, but Detective Coulson told me they would look at traffic cams and whatsnot, though I have no real hope that they will find anything.”

With a little wave back to the men, Jane finally left the room, and pretty soon after, Bucky was asleep again.

*********************

Waking up, Take 2, wasn’t any better as Take 1 at all, though Bucky noticed that his head was less pounding than the first time.

This time, Steve either was asleep or not in the room to, more or less, guide him to full consciousness, and yet, Bucky’s “spider senses” started to tingle. _Someone_ was here in the room with him.

Turning his head, Bucky steeled himself – for whatever, his mind was too busy with reorganizing itself to come up with anything – and was met with a pair of warm, big eyes, in the most beautiful shade of chocolate brown he ever had seen in his life.

“Hi,” the woman belonging to the eyes said, and try as he might, Bucky couldn’t quite contain the shudder that ran through his body upon getting this short sample of the woman’s voice.

“You’re cold?” she asked, her eyes, if even possible, getting slightly bigger. “I… I can get a nurse and ask for a blanket.”

“No, not necessary,” Bucky got out, his mind finally completely online and taking over control on his bodily functions again.

“Good, good,” the woman said, a soft smile tugging at her full lips. Another thing Bucky preferred on women in general, if he might add. “You’re probably wondering who the heck I am, and what I’m doing here in your room?”

“I actually do, but I also have a hunch I get that answer soon,” Bucky gave back, making her giggle. Dang it, but this mysterious woman was quickly ticking off all the points on his “favorite things in a woman” list.

“My name is Darcy Lewis, and I’m the woman who’s responsible for you lying here in a hospital bed,” she said, holding out a hand.

“You’re sure I should shake it?” Bucky asked with a raised eyebrow. “Your friend told me about the taser, but what if the true source of power is in your veins?”

That elicited a full body laugh out of her, giving her a hard time to breath for some moments. Finally catching her breath, she locked gazes with Bucky.

“You, sir, either have a very vivid imagination, or you’re reading too much comics,” Darcy gave back while waggling a finger in Bucky’s direction.

“Would that be so bad, Ms. Lewis?”

“No, not at all.” She got up from the seat next to Bucky’s bed. “Well, I have to head back to Jane, before she sets her lab on fire or something like that. You, sir, get better soon, and maybe we can start again over a cup of coffee.” She pressed a piece of paper in his hand. “Oh, and I just realized that I told you my name, but I don’t know yours.”

Bucky had to bite his tongue, otherwise he would have laughed out loud into her pretty face. She was, for the lack of a better word, simply adorable.

“I’m James, but my friends call me Bucky. And I really would love to count you to my friends, Ms. Lewis,” he finally answered with a wink, causing Darcy to blush slightly.

Two days later, Dr. Cho finally relented and let Bucky go, and to Steve, Sam and Natasha’s great amusement, Bucky couldn’t leave the hospital fast enough, even without shoes. Only one of the elder nurses stopped him after a few steps, raised an eyebrow, pointed first down to his feet and then back to his room before stepping into one of the other rooms on the floor. Needless to say that Bucky immediately went back, muttering about having no need for enemies with friends like these.

At long last, Bucky was at home, alone, with only his white cat Alpine keeping him company. The Persian first recoiled a bit at the hospital smell that seemed to cling to every single fiber on him, but pretty soon, she was stretched out along his thigh and purred loud. Nothing better than being in the peaceful isolation of your own apartment, Bucky thought with a sigh, sinking deeper into the cozy cushions of his couch.

Where Steve found him about two hours later, when he came over with take-out.

“Rise and shine, Buck!”

“Where’s the fire, punk?” Bucky gave back, not even bothering to open an eye.

“Under your ass if you don’t get up in the next 10 seconds and greet your guest,” Steve replied before winking at Darcy, who was still standing outside the living room and therefore hidden from Bucky’s sight.

“A guest, you say?” At last, Bucky not only opened his eyes (slowly), he also sat up, almost dislodging Alpine while doing so. “You don’t count, punk,” he said to Steve, who barely kept a smile contained.

“And what about me?” Darcy spoke up while entering the living room, letting her gaze swipe through the room.

“Oh... Hi, Darcy,” Bucky stammered, suddenly very aware of the ratty shirt and threadbare sweatpants he was wearing. “You are of course a guest.” He coughed. “You know what? Steve can show you the way to the kitchen, I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for either of them to react in any way, Bucky made a mad dash to his bedroom, shedding the shirt the minute he crossed the threshold, the pants following only seconds later. In a new record time (for him at last), he had donned new clothes, even put on some shoes, and went back to the kitchen – only to find out that somehow, Steve had vanished again, leaving him and Darcy all alone.

“So,” Bucky began while sitting down opposite her at the breakfast island, “is this your idea of starting over?”

“Yep,” Darcy replied, popping the “p” like a bubblegum, “and I even brought coffee.” She gestured to a large thermos standing next to her arm. “I mean, it’s gonna be just a little bit awkward, eating take-out and having coffee with it, but believe me, students do far worse things than that.”

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
